Professor Bernadette Baker

Personal Biography

Professor in Curriculum Studies and Global Studies, and Director of Graduate Programs; affiliated with several centers, including East Asian Studies, South Asia Studies, European studies, Institute for Regional and International Studies, the Robert F. & Jean E. Holtz Center for Science and Technology studies, and the Public Humanities.

Teaching Interests

Baker enjoys teaching and is particularly aware of and sensitive to the challenges of be marginalized within and outside the classroom, of being an international student in the United States (having been one myself), and is dedicated to sharing the exciting possibilities that new theoretical frameworks present for opening new worlds. Baker has worked in a variety of institutional contexts, including as a Professor of Sociology of Education, University of Turku, Finland, as an Honorary Professor of Humanities, University of Copenhagen Denmark, as a Visiting Professor, Globalization Studies, Zhejiang University, China, and as a Professor of Education Research, Queensland University of Technology, Australia.

Program and Curriculum Development

Baker, B.M. Title: Director of Graduate Education for the Department of Curriculum and InstructionDate(s): 2017Type: Program DevelopmentNew or Revised: New

Research Interests

Baker's previous projects have focused on analytics of power, constructions of the child, genealogies of genius, the racialization of ability and mental measurement, and the problematization of a religion-science-nation-west nexus in the making of Anglophone social sciences and empires. Current projects extend interests in non-essentialist and post-foundationalist approaches, including epistemologies labeled non-Western, cosmologies informing complementary integrative health modalities, and education's present-future problems and possibilities in light of artificial intelligence, big data, educational neuroscience, and contemplative practices.

Publications

Baker, B.M. (2018). ‘The anatomy of our discontent’: From braining the mind to mindfulness for teachers. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education.
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Baker, B.M. (2017). The hunt for disability: The new eugenics and the normalization of schoolchildren. World Yearbook in Education 2017: Assessment Inequalities.
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Baker, B.M. (2017). To show is to know? Conceptions of evidence and discourses of vision in social science and education Research. Curriculum Inquiry.
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Baker, B.M. (2016). An encounter with an encounter: Truth, evidence and reality in crossborder moments. Journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Curriculum Studies.
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Baker, B.M. (2015). From “somatic scandals” to “a constant potential for violence”? The culture of dissection, brain-based learning, and the rewriting/rewiring of “the child.”. Journal of Curriculum and Pedagogy. Online Publication/Abstract

Baker, B.M. (2010). The unconscious of history? Mesmerism and the production of scientific objects for curriculum historical research. Curriculum studies handbook: The next moment. Online Publication/Abstract

Public Service

Curriculum Inquiry, Editorial BoardDates of Membership: 2015 - Pres.Accomplishments: I was invited to the editorial board of this journal in 2008 and am now serving.

Editorial Review Board Member.

AERA Division BDates of Membership: 2011 - 2013Accomplishments: This involves managing the budget for the Division (which I inherited with a deficit), attending to Div B program design and problems that arise, constructing a future vision for Curriculum Studies with the VP and enacting it, attending the annual program mtg and budget report, in addition to the continuous work this Fall of inventing 5 graduate and jnr faculty workshops for Vancouver 2012. The workshops are a major annual Division event and budget commitment and a stellar cast of national and international professors have agreed to co-facilitate them for our next generation of scholars. Organizing this has involved doing everything from selecting the topics, ensuring professors could attend, writing all the letters of offer, descriptions, and website information, advertising the event to multiple domestic and international universities, booking facilities, equipment, restaurants, helping professors plan their workshop sessions, and responding to student inquiries. The time commitment to make something actually appear on the program like this should not be under-estimated.

Secrectary.

Fulbright Discipline of Education Review PanelDates of Membership: 2011 - 2013Accomplishments: One of three professors of education appointed. This entails reading over 40 large files that are like abbreviated tenure cases, writing formal reviews and critiques, rating the contributions to US, the host nation, the field and the candidate, and coordinating them with the other reviewers. It requires a wide intellectual range – everything from engineering, biology, and nursing education to curriculum planning for bilingual education to IT instruction falls under the category “Education.” This requires an intense and large time commitment to learn different subfields, to understand how the criteria for awards differ for different levels of the Fulbright in different countries, and to assess the competency of the applicant in relation to the project proposed. The time commitment and the quality of what I have done here needs to be recognized especially because I think this is something that other faculty in the Dept have not done and is a unique contribution to a program that intersects regularly with our campus.

Member.

INPE: International Network of Philosophers in EducationDates of Membership: 2008 - Pres.

Member.

NSSA: National Social Science AssociationDates of Membership: 2005 - Pres.

Member.

SDS: Society for Disability StudiesDates of Membership: 2005 - Pres.Accomplishments: I am a member of the only international disability studies organization and participate in its listserv.

Member.

SSHA: Social Science History AssociationDates of Membership: 2005 - Pres.